Lot 43

Scott, John, first Earl of Eldon.

Estimate

1,500 - 2,000 GBP

bidding is closed

Description

Anecdotes, written immediately after hearing Lord Eldon relate them. 1836. Quarto (250 x 200 mm.), a ruled exercise book with 117 pages plus blanks, written in a single nineteenth-century hand, a fair copy with some few corrections, morocco gilt, gilt edges, binding worn especially at joints

Twiss, Horace. The Public and Private Life of Lord Chancellor Eldon. London: John Murray, 1844, second edition, vol.1 and 2 (of 3), 8vo (215 x 135 mm.), plates, with an autograph letter signed by the judge William Scott (Eldon's brother) to his son-in-law Viscount Sidmouth tipped in, discussing opposition to the Catholic Relief Bill in the House of Lords ("...The Matter has now been carefully & gravely considered in your House at least and I hope the Catholics will acquiesce in it...") and family matters, 3 pages, 19 April 1821, lacking vol.3

Surtees, William Edward. A Sketch of the Lives of Lords Stowell and Eldon. London: Chapman and Hall, 1846, first edition, 8vo (220 x 135 mm.), bound uniformly with Twiss in calf gilt by Waters

Provenance

(Anecdotes) Ellen Forster, passing on her death without heir to her brother William John Forster (his armorial bookplate); John William Pease (armorial bookplate); Wardington bookplate

Catalogue Note

The Lord Chancellor the Earl of Eldon (1751-1838), the Newcastle born son of a coal merchant who became the greatest lawyer of his generation and a prominent political figure for over forty years, was well known for his copious store of anecdotes. These droll stories provide many insights into eighteenth century society, the legal system, and contemporaries such as George III (with whom Eldon had a very good relationship). A small selection of these anecdotes were printed by Twiss (from this manuscript), and in 1960 Lord Eldon's Anecdote Book was published, but from another manuscript with some alternative content and in a different order.

This contemporary copy of Eldon's Anecdotes was produced for a Durham branch of Eldon's family, descended from his brother Henry Scott (1748-99), whom Eldon visited regularly in the 1830s. It seems to have been produced - with Eldon's consent - for his great niece Ellen Forster (1798-1848) and, according to a note in the manuscript (p.116), it was "written down by Mr A. Bell, and Mr. Picart said it was correctly done". The anecdotes were told over a long period, often years before the transcription of the manuscript in 1836-8: many preserve the names of Eldon's interlocutors, and for example "Mary" is presumably Ellen's mother, who died in 1825.